Tiaras and Roses
by Winter Foxx
Summary: An unusual day in the small town of Mystic Falls. Caroline and Stefan are reluctantly dragged into the original's family drama. Klaroline with a little bit of Stebekah. No longer a oneshot.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. Not exactly sure what I thought about while writing this, but here you go! **

**Chapter 1**

"If you could do something, whatsoever your heart desires, what would it be?" Elijah lightheartedly asked from the driver's seat.

Rebekah was quick to answer, her tone as sharp as a knife. "To rip Kol's bloody heart straight from his chest, and then drop his useless body into the ocean!"

Elijah sighed and pinched the ridge of his nose and spoke silently to himself. "This is going spectacularly."

"Aw, com'on, Bekah darling," Kol quipped from the back seat of the SUV. He leaned forward to speak in her ear. "You can't blame this on me. It was our _wonderful_ brother who suggested this lovely family bonding session."

"Shut up, you idiot," Rebekah snapped.

"_Enough!"_ Klaus snarled next to Kol. "Pull the damn car over, Elijah."

"On the middle of the freeway?" Rebekah alarmingly asked, glimpsing over her left shoulder to give him a bizarre look.

"Pull over. _Now_."

Kol chuckled, "We've all but lasted ten minutes together. I'd say that's a new record for us. Back to the coffins, is it, Nik?"

"For God's sake, Kol. Don't further antagonize him!" Rebekah ridiculed, reaching a hand back to strike at Kol. Kol quickly ducked from her sharp nails.

Elijah pulled the SUV over and Klaus immediately exited the vehicle. Elijah followed Klaus, wanting to reason with Klaus. Rebekah and Kol remained inside, however, quarreling every curse word under the sun at one another. Luckily, there was a seat between the pair.

"Niklaus, please, for the sake of our family, what must I do to make you stay?"

Klaus ran a hand through his tussled curls. He turned to face his brother. "For starters, if you honestly care, we need our space. Not to be hauled about all over in a vehicle. If I go back in there, I will dagger the lot of them."

"The mansion then," Elijah stated rather than questioned.

Klaus perked his head up to the idea. Yes, Klaus thought, he could make due with the mansion. That was where he preferred to be, after all.

Upon their agreement, Elijah and Klaus returned to the vehicle. The remainder of their drive, however, could not have been predicted.

"Would you look at that sight?" Kol expressed, pressing his face against the glass window for a better view of the blonde woman walking down the streets of Mystic Falls. Her blonde hair shimmered like sand and gold in the sunlight.

"Elijah, you must stop."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at the blonde Kol was drooling over. "Kol, must you be so daft? It's just that hideous, chaotic cheerleader who Nik is obsessed with."

"So?"

Kol rolled down his window in an attempt to grab the blonde's attention, despite Klaus threatening his very existence.

"Leave the poor girl alone, Kol." Elijah finally warned from the driver's seat.

Kol ignored his brother's request, sticking his head out the window and calling for the woman. Rebekah rolled her eyes and applied pink lip-gloss while looking up at herself through the visor's mirror.

Klaus, on the other hand, was seething.

_"Stop the damn car."_

"Not again." Rebekah loudly groaned.

Elijah hit the brakes, nearly sending Rebekah into the windshield and her lip-gloss to the floor.

"Bloody hell, Elijah!?" She shrieked. "Do you even know how to drive this thing?"

"Perhaps you should be wearing your seat belt," Elijah said.

As the vehicle full of originals stopped in the middle of the street beside her, Caroline debated whether or not she should make a run for her life or see what all the commotion was. And who the hell was shouting those tasteless lines at her?

Klaus exited the car and walked onto the street. He appeared to not take notice of Caroline, or refused to do so.

Caroline was so very, very confused.

"Klaus? What's going o– "

"Not now, love."

Caroline watched him for a moment longer before shrugging and continuing on with her walk to the Grill. She decided that she did not want to know what was going on if Klaus' entire family was involved.

Elijah exited the vehicle then and approached Klaus on the street. Thanks to Caroline's vampire hearing, she overheard Elijah speaking quietly to Klaus. "Home is not too far away, Niklaus. You must hold out for a little while longer. That's all I ask of you."

"Like I said, brother, I'm going to dagger them."

Caroline elected to look back at the SUV parked in the middle of the street where she could see Kol and Rebekah having a rather heated discussion. Although, a heated discussion was putting it lightly. This was the beginning of a battle of between two enraged lions.

Elijah took notice to Caroline then, hope lighting up his eyes like a Christmas tree. "Good afternoon, Miss Forbes. Would you care to join my family and me on this _peaceful _afternoon drive?"

Klaus rolled his eyes.

_Shit! _Caroline thought. She should've booked it out of there when she had the chance!

"Sorry - I have other things to do," She smiled, walking away again.

Elijah raised an eyebrow, a _did she just refuse my request_ sort of eyebrow raise. No one says 'no' to an original vampire. "I deeply regret to do this, Caroline, but you leave me no choice."

:-:

"Seriously? What do you need me for? I have enough problems of my own, thank you very much!" Caroline awkwardly fidgeted, sitting between Klaus and Kol in the backseat.

Kol laughed, "You'll fit in quite perfectly then, sweetheart. Besides, your problems will never reach the extent of Rebekah's. It would be quite difficult to - what do the kids these days say? - _get on her level_."

"Honestly, Elijah," Rebekah started, switching her death glare from Kol to Caroline through her visor's mirror. "I don't see the need in bringing this brat along. You do remember her and her little friends trying to kill us, don't you?"

Elijah ignored Rebekah, keeping his eyes on the road.

Caroline pulled out her phone and, as secretly as she could, sent a text message for help.

:-:

The original family, plus Caroline, finally pulled up to the original's mansion.

Elijah nearly squinted. "Is that _Stefan Salvatore_?"

"Stefan?" Rebekah abruptly questioned. She released Kol's hair from her death grip and sat normally back in her seat. Obviously, the seat between the two siblings was not enough to stop her from getting to him. Kol rubbed his head and patted down his hair.

Rebekah's voice fell soft, almost caring. "What's he doing here?"

"My rescue," Caroline muttered. She reached across Klaus's lap and clawed for the door handle. When it opened, she climbed out. She ignored Klaus's legs and strong shoulder, which she grabbed a hold of so she didn't fall to her face.

Stefan had been patiently waiting outside, sitting on a wooden bench near the mansion's front doors. Once he saw Caroline come fumbling out of the vehicle, he rushed over to her side.

"Caroline, are you all right? What did they do to you?" Stefan asked, taking on a defensive stance once Caroline moved to him. His eyes quickly inspected her body, only to find nothing seemingly wrong with it and all her limbs still intact.

The original family had by now exited the vehicle. Rebekah was examining her nails while leaning on the car's front hood; an ill excuse to see Stefan. Elijah was waiting at the mansion's front entrance for everyone. Kol was scheming a way to get back at his sister for ruining his hair. And Klaus debated if he wanted to lock himself away in his gallery or dagger his siblings for peace for another 50 years or so.

"Let's go." Caroline shot back at Stefan, already making her way down the driveway.

Stefan threw a hand in the air, completely in shock. "You said they were torturing you. You said it was life or death."

"Yeah, well, they were and it was!"

"She's clearly exaggerating," Rebekah spat. "Not even a scratch on her perfect little body. Although that can be easily arranged - "

"Excuse our sister." Kol interrupted, "She tends to get easily jealous by pretty little things such as yourself."

Rebekah shot him another death glare.

Stefan quickly noticed the original family all had the crazy eyes, which was more than usual. He was beginning to regret his decision of coming to Caroline's aid.

"Inside. Now." Elijah suddenly ordered over everyone.

Kol and Rebekah continued their quarrel as they entered the mansion.

Elijah then looked to Stefan and Caroline, a thought crossing his mind. "You two will accompany us for the time being."

Caroline's jaw dropped. No way in _hell _was she staying any longer with them.

"On what condition?" Stefan asked.

A faint smile found it's way on Elijah's lips. "On the condition that you and your friends will be kept safe from my family in the future, and as long as we remain in this place."

Caroline hit Stefan's arm with the back of her hand. "We are _not_ staying another second."

**_-An hour later-_**

They had stayed another second, in fact, they had stayed far longer than preferred. After the hour it took to gather everyone in the den, Stefan had by long regretted his unwise decision.

"_Send help._" Stefan desperately whispered into his phone as he hid away in one of the bathrooms scattered around the mansion. Of course, he had chosen the one bathroom without any windows to escape from.

There was a sudden knock on the bathroom's wooden door. He ended the call abruptly and turned the running water off from the sink.

"What's taking so long?" Rebekah's impatient voice could be heard on the other side of the door. "Did you fall in?"

Stefan sighed and exited the bathroom, walking straight pass her as if she were invisible. Rebekah had been following him all around the mansion, stating that he needed an eye kept on him in fear of his unspoken plots to kill them.

Stefan continued down the hall.

Rebekah threw her hands in the air. "Unbelievable. It's like I'm not even here."

This was definitely the last time Stefan came running to one of Caroline's distress calls.

:-:

Back in the sitting room, Caroline was curled up on one of the leather couches.

Elijah had somehow tracked down Klaus and brought him back.

Klaus was now sitting opposite of Caroline, scribbling in his sketchbook while leaning back into the couch. Kol was pacing around the empty fireplace while Elijah tried speaking of acceptable activities the family could try out in hopes to adjusting with the 21st century. This was only phase one in rebuilding their family.

"Elijah, you worry too much." Kol shrugged. His eyes were fixed on the cabinet in the next room - the cabinet full of all Klaus's rare and expensive alcoholic bottles collected from around the world. "I'd say we're doing a fine job at not killing those around us. Don't you agree, Caroline?"

"Just wonderful," She mocked.

"And Nik?"

"Sod off, you halftwit." Klaus threatened.

"See! Just brilliant!"

Caroline brought her hands up to cover her face. "Why am I here again? Can't you guys work out your own problems? I have other plans that don't include sitting around in a house full of crazies."

Klaus's brows furrowed briefly before he closed his sketchbook and stood up from the couch.

"Are we done here, brother?" Klaus hissed.

Elijah rubbed the back of his head and spoke calmly. "We haven't even started yet, Niklaus. Perhaps if our sister and Stefan would be so kind to join us."

_"Rebekah!"_ Klaus shouted, his voice looming over the mansion.

After no answer, Klaus left the room in search of a drink to quell his anger. Caroline stood up. "You know what? Fine. I'll help. Just as long as I get to leave at a practical time. Today."

"Deal," Elijah agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for your lovely reviews! Decided to continue on with this story. Just going to be a fun and not too serious fic. Hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

After five shots of some strong and incredibly expensive whiskey, Klaus returned to the den where Elijah and Caroline were planning out the remainder of the afternoon and future activities for their family.

"So, if you want to blend in, it wouldn't hurt throwing a party every now and then." Caroline scribbled down the thought in the planner on the coffee table before her. "I mean, there's, like, a festival or charity auction every weekend here."

"Excellent. That should prove to be simple enough, I presume." Elijah nodded his head in agreement.

Sitting on the couch across the coffee table from Caroline and Elijah, Stefan pursed his lips together, tapping his foot annoyingly on the ground with his arms across his chest. Rebekah was chatting his ear off about how the young lady at the nail salon refused to do her nails for free the other day, or wouldn't admire her new outfit.

"Sure." Stefan would murmur.

"Yep." Stefan would agree.

Rebekah sighed, "The ignorance of humans now-a-days. Of course, I had to compel her, but at the same time I wanted to tear her little throat out!" She hissed as she tightly clenched her fists with death behind her eyes.

"Mhmm...Wait, what?" Stefan asked, bouncing back from his daze.

Kol happened to be sitting on the other side of Stefan and was constantly throwing insults in Rebekah's direction any chance he had. Stefan was between them and she wouldn't dare lay a finger on pretty little Stefan to get to him, or so Kol thought.

"Always have to have it your way, don't you, 'Bekah?" Kol smirked. "The poor girl was being nothing but honest with you. But, I suppose, the truth does hurt."

"Shut it, Kol."

Caroline watched from afar as the irritation grew further on Stefan's expression as he sat between the bickering pair. She was torn on whether she actually felt bad for Stefan or not. This was his idea, after all. At least she wouldn't have to worry about Kol and Rebekah for the time being and could instead focus on Elijah's request. Unexciting as it was.

"How about a local art showing?" Klaus suddenly chimed in, feeling less agitated due to his quick dose of alcohol. He would soon be in need of another round once the effects wore off, which, for an original hybrid, would be a mere minute.

Elijah and Caroline looked to one another, both utterly stunned with Klaus' effort to provide insight. Caroline had almost forgotten he had returned.

"Yeah, that could work!" Caroline bounced to jot the idea down.

"I'm glad to see you're finally taking this seriously, Niklaus," Elijah commended. Elijah also felt like patting himself on the back. Bringing Caroline and Stefan over seemed to be going over well for them, and the siblings weren't trying to kill one another for the first time in 30 minutes.

"Whatever to get this over with," Klaus uttered, raising a hand in the air to add meaning. His eyes quickly roamed over Caroline's thrilled expression as she neatly wrote down his idea.

Kol finally left the couch, much to Stefan's relief, and tossed an arm over Klaus's shoulder. Klaus's calm appearance quickly changed to that of irritation and anger. Kol ignored his brother's quick substitute of temper.

"Why don't we start today by visiting that wonderful little bar in town? What was it called again? The Grill?" Kol was growing tired of his baby sister after she began to disregard his insults. "We'll get to know the locals. Maybe grab a bite. There, that's my idea! Go ahead, write it down, sweetheart." He beamed at Caroline who rolled her eyes in response. Kol then glanced to Elijah. "I think we've covered enough for the day to last us a few years or so," He added in a dull voice.

"Out of the question," Elijah replied without giving Kol a look. Perhaps he had spoken too soon.

Kol cursed under his breath and shouted, "You can't keep us locked up in here all day!"

"I'm afraid that I can, and I will."

Klaus finally had enough of Kol being within three feet of him, let alone touching him. "Get your arm _off_ of me before I remove it from your body!" Klaus snarled in Kol's face. Kol backed away, about to come back with some smart remark about Klaus's breath reeking of whiskey until everyone's attention was captured by a peculiar clamor coming from the mansion's back entrance.

Without warning, the back door behind them suddenly burst open, sending broken pieces of wood and glass flying past the foyer and into the den where they were all gathered.

"What the hell!?" Rebekah nearly screamed, clinging onto Stefan's arm.

Caroline had shielded her face from the flying debris. However, she felt nothing as much as a breeze of air dance upon her skin. She lowered her arm and saw Klaus standing protectively in front of her, who was now picking out the splinters of wood that pierced his forearms. He wasn't there a second ago, Caroline thought.

"I heard there was a party and that I wasn't invited." The man in the doorway spoke.

Caroline and the others quickly recognized the voice.

Damon smugly walked into the den with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Damon?" Rebekah scorned, blinking. "What in the _bloody hell_ do you think you're doing? And did you just blow up that door?! Do you have any idea who - "

Damon quickly held up a hand and spoke hastily. "Cut it, Barbie. I'm just here to rescue my poor baby bro, whose arm you're currently crushing, and his sidekick, Blondie, over there. I received a rather disgruntled voice message earlier that made it sound like you were torturing them and that it was life or death." Damon's bright blue eyes shot Stefan a bewildered look before anyone else could notice. Stefan rolled his eyes in response, despite the amount of pain he was essentially in.

Rebekah glanced up at Stefan then, whose expression was now in a noticeable amount of pain. She let go of his arm to which Stefan desperately clutched a hold of it like it was about to fall off. It immediately began to heal.

"Damon, leave our home at once," Elijah warned, finally standing up from the couch as he brushed fragments from the door off his dress shirt.

"Hmm," Damon sarcastically thought while looking up at the ceiling. "Well, sorry, no can do. Not unless Stef and Blondie can leave with me. Otherwise, you're just going to be stuck with me, too," He smirked.

"Ugh, can we just kill them already, Elijah?" Kol shouted in annoyance.

"What?!" Caroline shrieked.

Klaus clenched his jaw and left the room in search of another drink. Perhaps he'd have to bring the entire bottle with him this time.

Elijah gripped the ridge of his nose now for the second time today. "No, Kol. The whole point of this planning is so that we don't kill them. Or anyone else, for that matter. Are you forgetting Italy, Spain, or even New Orleans? Your other little adventures back then never went unnoticed, either."

Kol scoffed, "Hardly any good that seems to be doing for us. Not to mention our lovely brother who is going to dagger us the second he feels the need to!" He spoke loud enough for Klaus to hear him in the other room. "We should kill them and get it over with already. Better them than us."

"I agree, Elijah. It's bound to happen one day or another. Is there really a point in prolonging it any longer?" Rebekah added, crossing her arms as she glared down Caroline.

Kol smirked and eyed his sister. "Well, we all know, sister, that it would be just like you to lose control before either of us would." Kol shot back. "You always were the most tempered one."

Rebekah gasped in response.

"What the hell did I just walk into?" Damon muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Elijah quickly stood between Rebekah and Kol before they could launch themselves at one another. "Enough!" Eliah scowled at them.

Rebekah and Kol relaxed and kept quiet, both glaring down the other.

Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest. "I've had enough of this for today, Elijah. Don't bother looking for me this time." In an instant, Rebekah vanished from the room.

"Well," Kol said, facing Elijah. "You're going to have a wonderful day, aren't you? Have fun." Kol then also disappeared from the room, leaving only Stefan, Caroline, Damon and Elijah.

Elijah's gritted his teeth. The expression '_the more you try to control something, the more it controls you'_ had never felt more accurate than now. Perhaps he should be trying a different approach at this family bonding thing. Then, again, how much of a family were they now? Could they even find redemption with one another or themselves?

Caroline let out a deep breath. "Well, as much fun as this was," She began, eyeing Stefan and Damon, hoping they would catch her drift that it was time to bail. Before she could finish her thought, Elijah spoke up.

"We need to find them." His voice was low. "We cannot risk them roaming free with the possibility of all those people within the town."

The only word Caroline heard was _we_. Perhaps the one word she didn't want to hear, and that's why it stuck out. Stefan's eyes widened and Damon simply leaned against the wall in the back of the room. So, it appeared that they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline soon found Klaus prowling in the mansion's wine cellar deep underground. If she couldn't escape in assisting Elijah with his 'plans', then Klaus didn't merit that luxury, either. Elijah had then suggested to Caroline that if she'd merely ask him, Klaus would agree to anything she wanted. She did not entirely understand Elijah's vague reasoning but was about to test his odd speculation, nonetheless. Boldly, Caroline stepped into the large stone room that housed a few of Klaus's world-famous wines that he had collected over the years.

When he heard her approach, Klaus turned to glance back at her with a smirk already etched on his face. "It's as if you know the place."

"I can hear you moving around, you know?" Caroline muttered, pausing a few feet away from him. "Now, I'm down here to get you since your brother seems to believe that I'm his personal slave. Which, by the way, is completely creepy and not at all appreciated."

Klaus chuckled softly, drawing a bottle from the shelves to thoroughly inspect it. "And what use would my brother have for a baby vampire as a slave?"

"In case you haven't yet noticed, I was taken against my will before since he somehow believes that I can help with _your_ family drama."

Klaus's signature smirk immediately left his face and was replaced by a scowl. He glared up at her with a now menacing gaze. "Those idiots can do whatever the hell they please for all I care."

"Elijah doesn't seem to think so," She countered, unfazed by the irritation clearly evident in his tone. Caroline folded her arms over her chest. "If we're all being forced to help, so can you."

"Now why would I do that when I have more important matters to attend to?"

"Like what?"

Klaus nonchalantly shrugged, depositing the wine bottle back on the racks - evidently not up to his taste. "Like forming my hybrid army, perhaps?"

Caroline resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _Not this again._

Klaus continued on while his fingers loomed and rifled the shelves for another bottle. "It seems my amiable family often forgets my true motives and actually believes in the impractical notion that people can change."

"People _can_ change," Caroline said, her voice lowering sympathetically as she added, "Anyone can."

A dark expression spread over Klaus's features as he spoke back at her. "That's just it - I'm not just anyone else. I _don't_ want to change."

"Fine." Caroline cut in, getting straight to the point, causing Klaus to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "You don't have to change, but, please, we all have lives we would like to get back to! Elijah won't let us leave unless we help him." Klaus's expression then remained fixed, obviously not interested, so Caroline threw in something _extra_ she was sure going to regret. "I'll even…promise to let you take me out on that date if you help." She quickly squeaked out.

Klaus all but froze for a moment until he finally turned to face her completely. "Don't make promises you can't keep, love," He said, gravely, watching her for any signs of falsehood.

"I promise."

Caroline watched as Klaus's deadly gaze changed into something more entirely frightening; hope, lighting up in his eyes that made her wish someone would have the decency to snap her neck then and there for her ever so brilliant idea she had presented him. What was she possibly thinking?

"Seven then?"

"_Tonight?_" Caroline shrieked.

His small grin faded and Caroline quickly realized she needed him to help them if she wanted to leave. "Fine, _fine_, all right. Seven it is." Caroline anxiously paced in a circle until she stopped and pointed a finger at him. "But first, keep your end of the deal! If I can't get out of this thing then the date is out of the question."

"As you say, Caroline," He said, heaving a bottle from the shelf and spinning to walk in her direction. "But first, let's have ourselves a drink. I'm certain we'll need it."

* * *

"So, let me get things straight, Stef," Damon said while striding around the den. Stefan was leaning back against the stone fireplace while Elijah carefully collected large pieces of debris from off the floor. "You got dragged into this mess because you received a text from Blondie? Why didn't you just let her be and spare us all from the misery of her crazy, controlling ways for a day or two?"

Stefan heaved out a loud sigh. "Damon, don't start this. Not now."

"This is your all fault, I hope you know." Damon continued on as if he didn't hear Stefan. "Here I am, just trying to be the good guy and save my poor baby bro, and this is what it turns out to be; the first act from a delusional freak show. Better gather all your animal friends, Stef."

Elijah peered up at Damon. "Please, let me remind you, Damon, that you are not bound to stay. If you will, the front door is just down the corridor and to the right. And be sure _not _to abolish it on your way out."

"Let Stefan leave and I'll be out of your hair," Damon quipped with a wide grin, flashing his teeth.

"I'm afraid I simply cannot allow that. I still require Stefan, as well as Caroline."

"Tch," Damon snorted, shrugging nonchalantly. "Well, then I'm sorry, amigo. I guess that you're still stuck with me. If Stef can't leave, then neither can I."

Elijah appeared to want to input something further, but detained himself from doing so. He instead continued on cleaning up the mess before him.

"Say," Damon suddenly began, his tone derisively thoughtful as he spoke, "What if Stefan were to, oh, I don't know, suddenly leave or just disappear? What would happen then?"

Elijah glanced up at him once more. Any trace of humor Damon was expecting was not found on Elijah's dead serious expression. Elijah answered simply, "Then I cannot assure the safety of you or your friends from my family."

"Just leave, Damon," Stefan unexpectedly said, rubbing a hand down his face. "Caroline and I can handle ourselves from here. Just go and check up on Elena."

Damon shot him a pointed look. "That's not what you said in your message, Stef."

"I know what I said, but that's not the point. If we want to get out of this, we need to w-" But Stefan was cut off as a giggling Caroline came strolling into the den. All Stefan had to do was inhale lightly to smell the staggering fragrance from the glass tumbler she held in her hand.

"Care, where in the hell have you been?" Stefan demanded, angrily, as he stepped forward. They needed to get to work if they wanted to leave anytime soon. Seeing Caroline surrounded in a radiant bubble of delight, and obviously somewhat tipsy, did not sit well with Stefan given their current predicament.

Caroline looked over to Stefan and caught the intense glare he was giving her. What the hell was his problem? She thought.

"I was being useful," Caroline replied, looking behind her.

Damon rose an eyebrow while Elijah stood to his feet, depositing the debris he gathered into the nearby trashcan.

Following promptly behind Caroline was Klaus. Unlike Caroline, Klaus appeared to be impervious by the alcohol's effects as he threw Elijah an amused look.

"Elijah, after all this time, don't tell me you still don't know our beloved siblings all that well."

Elijah remained silent, waiting for Klaus to elaborate. Klaus stepped further into the den, stopping short before Elijah.

"Kol is inanely predictable with his constant droning of visiting that blasted Grill in town. He may run into a few distractions along the way there, of course. And Rebekah, our dear sister, will more or less be taking her rage out on the town's featured magazine star, or even compelling every worker at her favorite store until she has a brand new wardrobe."

"Of course." Elijah sounded dumbfounded, but the hostile look emerging on his face was not as convincing. "How could I have forgotten? After all the years of our family being daggered throughout our wretched lives, how could I possibly not recall knowing their most favorite pastimes? It must have slipped my mind."

The tension in the room suddenly grew to an uncomfortable level until it was nearly palpable, instigating Caroline to swallow down the remainder of her drink in an anxious swig. Stefan and Damon backed away from Elijah, gradually making their way over and across the room to stand next to Caroline.

"You know _damn well_ that those daggers were needed from time to time," Klaus replied sinisterly, his eyes darkening. "Don't let me remind you that you played a hand in their happenings, too."

Elijah's usual composed appearance shifted momentarily before he suddenly turned away from Klaus and spoke in a severe voice. "Niklaus, from this point moving forward, I don't wish to see another dagger buried within the flesh of our siblings for as long as we live. We must bring our family back together," He paused briefly, turning back to look at his brother. "It pains me greatly to see us like this; fighting needlessly. When does it end?"

Klaus's jaw remained locked tight as he minded Elijah and took in his words. Neither original spoke for what seemed like minutes.

Caroline felt a slight jab to her heart from watching the brothers before her. How was it that she could go from absolutely loathing their family to feeling remorseful for them all within a day's time? She also had to give credit to Elijah and his desire to reunite his dysfunctional family, despite his questionable methods for doing so. If Elijah believed in his family's redemption, Caroline thought she could at least try, too.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Caroline took a step forward and spoke in a cherry voice. "Well, what good are we doing just standing around here? Let's get out and find them before anything…_bad_ happens."

Klaus tilted his head slightly to look back at Caroline, and his dark eyes seemed to visibly soften to her voice. Elijah, too, relaxed and nodded his head soon after.

"You're right," Elijah agreed, pacing away. "Stefan and I will locate Rebekah. Caroline, you and Niklaus will search for Kol. If Niklaus's speculations are correct, we should have little to no trouble in finding them."

"Great plan, except I think you're forgetting about a certain someone." Damon suddenly chimed in.

All eyes in the room turned to fixate on Damon.

"I beg your pardon?" Elijah was the first to ask.

Damon scoffed. "All right, you all go out on your little search party. I'll just be waiting here until you return to collect Stefan." Stefan then quickly shot Damon a displeased look. "And Blondie," Damon added, rolling his eyes. "But I can't promise that I won't be inviting anyone over. I might get a little lonely."

Elijah sighed, "Fine, Damon. Please, just don't get too comfortable with your stay."

* * *

Caroline hopped into the passenger seat of Klaus's black SUV. It was late in the afternoon by now, but the group still had the remainder of the day to find Kol and Rebekah. Klaus entered the vehicle on the driver's side and started the engine within seconds.

"So, to the Grill then?" Caroline asked.

Klaus nodded, eyes focused on the road. "I suppose we've already let too much time slip away. He's sure to have found his way there by now."

Caroline swallowed, nervously, imagining the trail of blood left from Kol's rampage.

When they finally arrived at the Grill, Caroline was thankful that the place hadn't gone up in flames or was being surrounded by a swat team. Maybe Kol wasn't wreaking havoc as they had predicted. Maybe Kol wasn't even here.

"He's here," Klaus said, seeming to read Caroline's mind.

Both exited the vehicle and walked into the entrance of the Grill. Caroline immediately spotted Kol sitting at the bar, his back to them.

"So what's our plan of attack?" Caroline whispered to Klaus. "Are we going to throw him in a large sack and carry him out? Drug him with vervain? Maybe snap his neck in front of all these people?"

Klaus chuckled. "Nothing of the sort, love. Instead, we are going to have a drink with him."

"Uh, you do know that I am technically underage, right? Plus, my mom would literally freak if she found out I was drinking here...in public...during the day. _Especially_ with you!"

"Compulsion is a beautiful thing."

"Yeah, and compulsion is the reason why nearly half the town is on flipping vervain!"

"Oh, lighten up, Caroline. We can't be having you in a bad mood for our date tonight."

"Urgh, don't remind me."

Klaus smirked. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Caroline nodded, and the two headed up to the bar by Kol.

"Hello again, Kol," Klaus brazenly announced, taking the open seat next to his brother. Caroline took the seat next to Klaus. "Care if we join you?"

"Nik. What a lovely surprise," Kol said, downing the rest of his drink. "I was wondering when Elijah would come looking for me. Don't think I'll go easily."

"Oh, I didn't plan on it. In fact, I'm not here to bring you back. I'm here to simply have a drink with you. What do you say?" Klaus raised his hand to the bartender, gesturing her over.

Caroline gasped. "Are you _kidding_ me? I thought you were joking!"

The young bartender came up to them then, a smile on her face. "What can I get for you?" She asked, eyeing up Klaus.

"I'm afraid we're going to be here for a while, sweetheart. Why don't you bring over your best rail at hand to start us off." Klaus compelled.

"You can't be serious," Caroline muttered as the bartender brought them over a bottle from the rail. Klaus reached over the bar and grabbed his own shot glass.

"You got yourself a feisty one there," Kol said, looking over at Caroline.

Klaus, ignoring Kol, poured a shot, offering it to Caroline.

"As if!" Caroline snapped at Klaus.

"Suite yourself, love." Klaus took the drink himself.

Caroline rolled her eyes. Her eyes then landed across the bar, spotting Bonnie and Matt near a table at the back. _Shit! _If Bonnie or Matt were to see her sitting at the bar with _Klaus_…they would tell the others and Caroline would never hear the end of it!

"Say, Nik, what do you think of our delightful brother and his brilliant plan?" Kol asked, pouring himself a shot. "Quite comical, don't you think?"

"I'd say he's all but lost his mind at this point. But who can blame him? Our family is reunited, and he feels the need to keep us in line. He's still following the moral path we've all strayed from long ago."

As Klaus and Kol were having what appeared to be a heart-to-heart, Caroline used Kol's and Klaus's bodies as cover from Bonnie and Matt. Bonnie's back was to Caroline, but Matt had a perfect view of them at the bar. All it would take was one odd movement and...

Wait a minute. Why was she still sitting with Klaus and Kol? Klaus was no longer helping her bring Kol back, so what was she supposed to do about it? Nothing, that's what. Caroline then, silently, slid off the stool and left the two brothers at the bar. She quickly made her way over to Bonnie and Matt in the back.

"Caroline? What are you doing here?" Matt asked. "I thought you had to –"

"I don't even want to talk about it," Caroline quickly said, taking an open seat at their table. "I just need to relax for a few minutes."

Matt narrowed his eyes then. "We've got trouble at two o'clock."

Bonnie and Caroline both looked in the direction – towards Klaus and Kol sitting at the bar. Both brothers just so happened to have their eyes on Caroline's table. Caroline let her head fall to the table, her hair falling around her.

"What are they even doing here?" Bonnie muttered.

"Just ignore them," Caroline said through her hair.

When Matt and Bonnie stayed quiet, Caroline sat back up, and soon realized why both of her friends were at a loss for words.

"Very rude, sweetheart," Kol said with a smirk, now standing over their table. "Is that any way to treat an original vampire? Why don't you introduce me to your friends here?"

* * *

**Please review :)**


End file.
